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Real Madrid and Barcelona face top-half La Liga sides in their Copa Del Rey Round of 16 ties.
Real Madrid made things tough on themselves with a poor first half performance against Malaga in the first leg of their Copa Del Rey tie, but they dug themselves out of a hole to make themselves favorites for the second leg. Malaga jumped out to a 2-0 lead over Los Merengues, with goals from Sergio Sanchez and Martin Demichelis, and appeared like they were going to hold on for a huge win at the Bernabeu. Somewhere around the 60th minute, Madrid decided to step on the gas.
Once they got rolling, there was no stopping them. Sami Khedira and Gonzalo Higuain leveled the match, scoring 69th and 70th minute goals to stun their visitors. Karim Benzema would give his side the lead just eight minutes later, and they held on for a 3-2 victory. The second leg is in Malaga next week, and while Madrid will be favorites to advance, they won't be happy that they've made it so touch on themselves.
The other three Monday matches featured La Liga teams taking on lower division clubs, and all of the La Liga sides fared poorly. Athletic Bilbao drew Albacete 0-0. Levante was defeated by Alcorcon 2-1, and Mirandes defeated Racing Santander 2-0.
For more on Los Merengues, check out Real Madrid blog Managing Madrid.
Barcelona and Real Madrid, as always, are favored to advance in the Copa Del Rey. They haven't gotten it terribly easy in the Round of 16, however, and will have to get through two-legged ties against respectable teams in order to advance towards what both teams hope will be the first trophy won in a treble.
Los Merengues host Malaga at the Santiago Bernabeu in the first leg of their tie on Tuesday, while Barcelona host Osasuna on Wednesday. The second legs will be played next week, with both teams having to go away from home. Building up leads this week will be important so that both teams can feel comfortable in resting a few first choice players for next week's road games.
The only other truly interesting Round of 16 tie is the one between Sevilla and Valencia, and it will be interesting to see whether or not the teams put their best foot forward. Real Sociedad and Mallorca play in the only other clash featuring two La Liga teams.
Albacete vs. Athletic Bilbao - Tuesday, 2:00 p.m. ET
AD Alcoron vs. Levante - Tuesday, 3:00 p.m. ET
Mirandes vs. Racing Santander - Tuesday, 3:00 p.m. ET
Real Madrid vs. Malaga - Tuesday, 4:00 p.m. ET
Real Sociedad vs. Mallorca - Wednesday, 2:00 p.m. ET
Barcelona vs. Osasuna - Wednesday, 4:00 p.m. ET
Cordoba vs. Espanyol - Thursday, 2:00 p.m. ET
Valencia vs. Sevilla - Thursday, 4:00 p.m. ET
For more on Los Merengues and Los Cules, check out Real Madrid blog Managing Madrid and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes.
Copa Del Rey, Round Of 16: Wednesday Wrap, Barcelona Trounce Osasuna
While Real Madrid made life difficult for themselves in the Copa Del Rey, Barcelona did nothing of the sort, easily dispatching of Osasuna in a 4-0 rout on Wednesday. The Blaugranas will now have the opportunity to play their second team in the second leg if they wish to do so. The first leg featured a mostly first choice XI with a couple of exceptions. Most notably, Lionel Messi did not start, but came off the bench to bag two goals.
Cesc Fabregas put the game away before it really got started, scoring goals in the 14th and 18th minutes. Messi entered the game for Pedro in the 59th minute and had a stunning 30 minutes, scoring his goals in the 73rd minute and in stoppage time.
In the other match that was played on Wednesday, Real Sociedad put themselves into a great position to advance to the next round with a 2-0 home win over Mallorca.
For more on the Blaugranas, check out FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes.
Jan 05 6:21a by Kevin McCauley - 0 comments